MCW Cardiovascular Center Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Affinity Group

The Cardiovascular Center has initiated AFFINITY GROUPS to stimulate and foster greater interaction and collaborations between CVC investigators and other investigators from MCW departments and outside institutions, such as Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and the University of Georgia.

The common themes explored by work in the laboratories of members of this group are centered upon the physiological and pathophysiological consequences of renal ischemia/ reperfusion (I/R) injury. Renal I/R injury is a commonly employed model of acute kidney injury (AKI), also known as acute renal failure. AKI is a serious disease with grave consequences; the mortality rate of patients with AKI is approximately 50%. AKI is characterized by a rapid decline in the filtration function of the kidney that is accompanied by the retention of waste products. The impairment in function in AKI can be caused by a number of different factors and occurs in a significant fraction of patients in the Intensive Care Unit. In addition to the clinical relevance of studies that examine renal I/R injury to acute kidney injury, experimental renal I/R injury is also an important model that is used to assess the conditions that occur in patients receiving a kidney transplant. Depending upon the donor, transplanted kidneys are not perfused with blood for a variable amount of time prior to transplantation. Because AKI has such serious effects in patients, and all transplanted kidneys experience renal I/R injury to some extent, the clinical relevance and translational importance of this type of research to human health is extremely high.

Members of the Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion group are examining a multitude of mechanisms that mediate injury in the short-term and in the long-term. A number of members of the group are focusing their scientific efforts upon the acute changes in different factors that lead to cell death or alterations in cellular function in the first minutes to hours after injury. The major focus of this work is to understand what biochemical or cellular signals are activated in the kidney following injury that leads to alterations in blood flow and the development of tissue damage. The ultimate goal of this type of research is to develop strategies that can be used to decrease the impairment in renal function and reduce the mortality associated with AKI.

Other work by members of this affinity group is focused upon the long-term (days to months to years) consequences of AKI due to I/R injury. It has been and is still largely believed that individuals who survive AKI spontaneously recover full kidney function. Studies by members of this group, and by colleagues throughout the world, have demonstrated that there are long-term deleterious effects in individuals who have recovered from AKI. The more extreme, long-term consequences include chronic kidney disease and hypertension. The goal of research into the long-term effects of renal I/R injury is to develop methodologies to prevent these chronic diseases that significantly reduce life expectancy and the quality of life.